Elliott Leads Lancers with Top 15 Finish at Seneca Invitational

The Loyalist Lancers cross-country team opened their OCAA season on Friday, September 27, at the Seneca Invitational in King City, ON. The event served as a key early test, offering the team an opportunity to measure themselves against their competition and familiarize themselves with the course that will host the OCAA Championships next month.

Known for its difficulty, the Seneca course, with its longer-than-standard 6k/8k distances and numerous challenging hills, lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest on the circuit. Experience proved valuable, as Lancer veterans Robert Leybourne (36th, 34:57) and Jessie Shaw (37th, 35:08) led the men's team, followed by Alexander Rettegi (46th, 37:20) and Soroush Danesh (56th, 41:03). Christopher Robson (58th, 42:48) and Mustafa Alali (60th, 44:00) rounded out the Lancers' contingent, helping the team to an 8th-place overall finish.

"We got a chance to see the competition today and where we stack up against the others" said Coach Kevin Beatty. " There are teams within reach that we will be aiming to over take in the next races. We can make that improvement."

For the first time since 2019, the Lancers also fielded female runners in an OCAA race. Leading the way for the women's team was Cassandra Elliott, who finished an impressive 13th (28:32) in the 6k race, marking herself as a strong contender in the province. Teammates Roya Shafai (25th, 31:45) and Bianca Rainville (34th, 34:25) also had solid debuts, although the team did not have enough runners to record a team score. However, with a fourth runner expected to join later in the season, the women's team is set to be more competitive in upcoming events.